SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1986-1987 Wednesdays

Here's a look at Wednesdays in the 1986-87 season!

ABC	8:00	8:30	9:00	10:00
Sep	Perfect Strangers	Head of the Class	Dynasty	Hotel
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar		Harry
Apr		Head of the Class		Mariah
May

ABC revamped the first hour on Wednesday nights with a comedy hour. Though it only aired six episodes late in the spring of the previous season, Perfect Strangers did well enough to earn ABC's confidence that it could be a lead off show. It's a little surprising they picked Strangers instead of Growing Pains. Although it didn't do as well as it did on its brief Tuesday run, it did turn the lights on for ABC in a troubled slot. It was followed by Head of the Class, a new sitcom starring Howard Hesseman as a teacher of gifted students in Manhattan. The reverse Welcome Back Kotter sitcom built on its lead-in and was ABC's top rated new show. It was briefly replaced in the spring with Harry, a hospital-set sitcom starring Alan Arkin that lasted just four episodes before ABC cut its run early and went back to Class. At 9pm was Dynasty. Just two years removed from being the #1 show on TV, Dynasty dropped all the way to #25 this season. It was very clearly a show on the decline by this point. It was followed, as usual, by Hotel. The drama was also dropping in the ratings like its lead-in. It was put on hiatus late in the season although it went back to Wednesdays for the summer. Its replacement was Mariah, a drama set in a prison that lasted seven episodes.

CBS	8:00	8:30	9:00	10:00
Sep	Various Programs		Magnum P.I.	The Equalizer
Oct	Together We Stand	Better Days
Nov	Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar				Houston Knights
Apr	Roxie	Take Five
May	Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer			The Equalizer

CBS was a mess on Wednesdays again in 1986-87 although maybe not as much as the previous season thanks to more stabilization later in the night. The 8pm hour was a disaster though. First up was a comedy hour with Together We Stand and Better Days. They didn't start on Wednesdays until early October since Together had a two week preview on Mondays to start the season. Together We Stand starred Elliott Gould and Dee Wallace Stone as parents of a bunch of adopted children. From Sherwood Schwartz, the plot actually was originally a planted spinoff on The Brady Bunch many years earlier in an episode called "Kelly's Kids." Better Days was centered on a California teen who goes to live with his Brooklyn grandfather and fended off charges of racism. By the end of October, Together We Stand had been put on hiatus and Better Days had been cancelled. They were replaced by Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, which had been airing on Saturdays (after being off the air for a season). CBS went back to the comedy well in April with another stab at two new comedies. Roxie was a spinoff of Kate & Allie starring Andrea Martin while Take Five starred George Segal as a man having a midlife crisis. Both shows were instant bombs and lasted just two episodes before being cancelled. None of the comedies except Together We Stand aired enough episodes to be counted in the Nielsen Ratings (that's how it was done back then) if you're wondering why one isn't listed as the lowest rated show of the night. Mike Hammer came back to 8pm to end the season but was cancelled after its interrupted run. The most stable hour for CBS was 9pm where Magnum P.I. aired. Magnum had been a Thursday staple for many years before briefly moving to Saturday the previous season. It made a mostly smooth transition to Wednesdays but was certainly past its peak. It was followed by the compatible The Equalizer in its second season. The Equalizer went on a break in the spring to make room for Houston Knights, a cop drama set in (you guessed it) Houston and featuring two cops with very different backgrounds. Although not a big success, it did get renewed for a second season.

NBC	8:00	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Highway to Heaven	Gimme A Break!	You Again?	St. Elsewhere
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan			The Tortellis
Feb
Mar		Night Court		The Bronx Zoo
Apr			Easy Street
May				St. Elsewhere

NBC had stability for the most part with its dramas to start and end the night but they had trouble with any sort of consistent schedule for their 9pm comedy hour. At 8pm was Highway to Heaven, a show that continued to be a solid lead-off show in its third season though it dropped from the previous season. At 10pm for most of the season was St. Elsewhere, which continued to be a modestly rated but acclaimed drama. It was replaced for a couple months in the spring with The Bronx Zoo, a drama that brought Ed Asner back to TV as the principal of an unruly high school in The Bronx. It was not a big success but did get renewed for a second season but was once again left off the fall schedule. Now for the 9pm comedy mess. The year started with Gimme A Break and You Again? Gimme A Break had aired on Saturdays for a couple years but was now in its sixth season and moved to Wednesdays. The show added a young Rosie O'Donnell to the cast this season. It was eventually moved to Tuesdays and then cancelled. You Again? had done pretty well on Mondays the previous season but tanked in this Wednesday move. The Jack Klugman-John Stamos sitcom was cancelled at midseason and Stamos found breakout success just a few months later on Full House. You Again? was replaced by The Tortellis. The show was a spinoff of Cheers starring a couple recurring characters from NBC's smash hit sitcom. It aired a preview episode after Cheers but then struggled in its regular slot. The show moved to Tuesdays but was cancelled at the end of the season. The characters returned to Cheers from time to time and of course the next Cheers spinoff (Frasier) was far more successful. NBC's best chance of success in the comedy hour came late in the season when Night Court moved to the 9pm slot after several seasons on NBC's hit Thursday lineup. However, the move to Wednesdays was not great for the show and it ended up back on Thursdays the following season. It was followed at the end of the season by Easy Street, a show that had aired on Sundays for much of the season but only aired its final episode (and some reruns) on Wednesday before its cancellation.

Top Rated Wednesday Show in 1986-87: Night Court (#7) - though this was due to its Thursday airings
Lowest Rated Wednesday Show in 1986-87: Together We Stand (#66)

What would I have watched on Wednesdays in 1986-87?
Perfect Strangers, Head of the Class, St. Elsewhere. I probably would have sampled The Bronx Zoo and some of the new CBS comedies.

Tomorrow: Top 10 Thanksgiving Episodes (pre-1995)!

Next Week: A look at Thursdays in 1986-1987!